Now there are giant comets generating electricity from heaven

The West Coast of Ireland, as green as steep by the wind, has become the test bench of A novel idea: Replace wind turbines with giant comets.

Generate electricity from the sky. Willing to find a Alternative to terrestrial wind turbinesResearchers at the University of Delft chose May County, in Ireland, to test a system called Kitepower.

Instead of wind turbines, Kitepower generates electricity by 60 square meter comets that rise to 425 meters from the ground.

Why Ireland. To put the invention to the limit. “The wind conditions on the west coast of Ireland allow us to exceed the limits of our system, to make it more robust and reliable,” Andrei Luca explained to RTEChief of Operations of Kitepower. “If it has worked in Ireland, it will probably work around the world.”

This is how the May County, to the west of the country, has become the first air -transported energy test site in the world, which those responsible for Kitepower describe as a potential “change of play” in the sector.

How it works. With an ingenious “Yoy effect”. The kite, subject to a cable rolled in a drum, ascends by drawing an eight in the sky for 45 seconds. This flight pattern, inspired by a kitesurf candle, maximizes wind traction, generating a force between 2.5 and 4 tons. This force rotates the drum, which in turn is connected to a generator on land, producing electricity that is stored in a battery system.

Once the 45 seconds have elapsed, the kite is leveled to minimize wind resistance, which allows the cable to be collected using only a fraction of the energy generated. The cycle is repeated again and again, generating a net renewable energy gain. The system, which combines the KITESURF movements with a GPS guidance system, is capable of producing up to 30 kilowatts of electricity per hour for each kite.

What improves wind turbines. According to Kitepower, his comets are twice as efficient that wind turbines when capturing wind energy, because they take advantage The winds of great altitudeinaccessible for conventional wind turbines.

But the truly interesting thing is that the whole system fits in a six -meter container, which makes it a portable system that can be deployed anywhere accessible by a truck, without the need for heavy foundations or towers.

Islands and remote places. After the tests in Ireland, Kitepower has launched A pilot project in the Netherlands with the construction company Dur Vermeer, where the system is being used to load excavators and electric trucks in an infrastructure project.

The objective of the company is to bring technology to remote communities and the islands of the European Union, many of which depend on the importation of diesel, with the cost that that entails. The comets deployed in Ireland have shown that airborne wind energy could be a cheap, clean and renewable alternative.

Image | Kitepower

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